Police: 1 man, 3 holdups, 5 minutes

A Plainfield man was arrested Friday afternoon after trying to rob a Burger King, a 7-Eleven and a Chase Bank branch in five minutes, police said.

[Alex Ortiz - aortiz@shawmedia.com]

Several police vehicles with emergency lights flashing were seen on Essington Road, Caton Farm Road and around the Louis Joliet Mall responding to the robberies.

Places hit were the Chase Bank at 2222 Essington Road, the nearby 7-Eleven store at the corner of Essington and Caton Farm roads, and the Burger King on Route 30 outside of the Louis Joliet Mall.

The robbery attempts occurred within five minutes, according to a police news release. The suspect was stopped about a half-hour later.

Thomas S. Manaras Jr., 34, of Plainfield was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted robbery, one count of aggravated robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and several citations related to aggravated fleeing and eluding before he was stopped, police said.

The series of events started at 12:56 p.m. at the Burger King outside the Louis Joliet Mall.

Cheryl Davey, manager of the Burger King, said she shut the drive-thru window on a man in a red Cadillac SUV after he demanded money and acted like he had a gun.

“He told me to give him all the money in the drawer,” Davey said. “I just closed the window and backed up and called the police.”

The man drove off.

[Alex Ortiz - aortiz@shawmedia.com]

Police said Manaras next went to the 7-Eleven store.

Employee Jacob Whitford also said the suspect acted like he had a gun as he stood at the cash register and demanded money.

“I told him we didn’t have much,” Whitford said. “He said just, ‘Give me all the money in the register.’ There was $12 in the register, and he took the $12.”

As the man headed out the door, he started screaming.

“He’s like, ‘Where are the big bills?’ ” Whitford said.

[Alex Ortiz - aortiz@shawmedia.com]

Then, at 1 p.m., police said, a man in a red Cadillac SUV showed up at the drive-thru window at the Chase Bank near the 7-Eleven and tried to rob it.

Police did not say in the release whether the suspect got any money at the bank.

Bank employees would not comment.

A patrol officer spotted the suspect in the Cadillac at 1:22 p.m. at Caton Farm Road and Cryder Lane, according to the release.

“The suspect refused to stop when ordered to do so, and led officers on a pursuit in the area,” police said.

Police stopped the Cadillac at Route 30 and Spangler Road. The vehicle had been reported stolen earlier in the day by Aurora police, according to the release.

“Manaras was positively identified at the scene by all employees he encountered during this spree,” police said.

[Alex Ortiz - aortiz@shawmedia.com]

Mark Casco, a clerk at the Mobil Mart at the corner of Route 30 and Spangler Road, said he saw police vehicles and a tow truck pulling a vehicle away when he came to work about 3 p.m. His co-workers told him there was a robbery in the area which concluded near the gas station.

Kevin and Georgette Lane, who live on Spangler Road, said they were not home when the chase concluded near their house, but their security camera recorded some of what happened. The video doesn't show everything, but the audio picked up the sound of police sirens and a few Joliet police cars stopping right in front of their home next to what appears to be a red car. There were also tire tracks through their front yard.

[Alex Ortiz - aortiz@shawmedia.com]

Police could not be reached to discuss another stop made at about the same time on Essington near Black Road.

Initially, police said the stop was made in connection with the Chase Bank robbery.

One witness said he saw three young men being handcuffed by police near a small, white car. Later, a white Volkswagen Jetta was towed from that area with police standing by.

Whitford said he had been called by police to identify four men who were suspects in the bank robbery. But he did not recognize any of them.